“How dare…… Why are there false rumors that Grand Saint Saraf is a witch! Why! Why! Why!”
The maids brought baskets and brooms to collect the broken objects that Pelena had thrown everywhere.
Once-expensive and beautiful items became trash, disappearing into the baskets.
“Empress Dowager Pelena. Please calm down. You might hurt yourself.”
“Grand Saint Saraf of the Ella Temple a witch? How can I stay calm when such nonsensical stories about her being a devotee of an evil goddess are spreading? Think before you speak.”
The maids shrank at her scolding.
Pelena sat weakly on the bed. The veins on her white, slender neck showed through the loosened collar of her dress.
“I apologize for not understanding Your Majesty’s feelings.”
“No, I’m sorry. For suddenly raising my voice…”
“Your Majesty. It’s unthinkable for you to apologize to lowly servants.”
Pelena’s pale, clear face softened.
“I don’t understand why things are going so wrong.”
Unlike when they framed Musila as a witch before, trying to frame Lorencia as a witch wasn’t easy.
Strangely, as the rumors spread, rumors that Grand Saint Saraf was a witch spread instead. Frustration welled up inside her.
Rumors that Grand Saint Saraf was a witch in the form of a white snake spread uncontrollably.
Some people wanted an explanation from the Grand Saint. But an explanation was impossible. The woman playing the role of Grand Saint was dead.
A new Grand Saint needed to be chosen, but there were people who had seen the face of the Grand Saint who died on the founding day of the Polroid Empire.
Of course, they could just cover her face and present her to the people, but even the thought of making excuses was irritating.
“Grand Saint a witch? No one will believe such false rumors. So please calm down, Your Majesty.”
“Is that so? Then why do such false rumors keep spreading from person to person?”
As Pelena sat on the bed, a maid opened the door and entered.
“Your Majesty. His Majesty Emperor Ruans has arrived.”
“Didn’t I say not to let anyone in here today because I don’t want to see anyone?”
“Yes. I conveyed Your Majesty’s words to the Emperor, but…”
The maid glanced nervously towards the door.
Hearing the familiar voice from outside the room, Pelena sighed and got up from the bed. The maids’ voices trying to stop him grew closer, and the door suddenly burst open.
“Why have you come, Your Majesty Ruans?”
“What is the Ella Temple thinking! Mother.”
Pelena frowned, trying to hold back a sigh as she saw Ruans.
“I don’t want to have any conversation with Your Majesty right now. So please leave.”
“Do you know what kind of rumors are circulating about Lorencia right now?”
“If so.”
Pelena sighed and said.
“Have you heard what kind of rumors are circulating about Grand Saint Saraf, Your Majesty?”
“I know. That Grand Saint Saraf is actually a witch.”
“Actually?”
“I saw with my own eyes the Grand Saint Saraf lose her light and collapse.”
How ridiculous she looked, boasting about being Ella Goddess’s messenger, then sitting down with a red face in front of people! Just thinking about it made him laugh again.
“In contrast, Lorencia fixed the Grand Saint’s crystal ball in front of people. This is the beginning of a new saint legend, Mother. So we must somehow make her my empress.”
Pelena listened to Ruans’s story with a calm, expressionless face.
“Grand Saint Saraf turned out to be a vicious witch, and Lorencia caught that vicious witch Saraf in front of people. If such a Lorencia becomes my empress….. Ah. It couldn’t be better. Lorencia will be my perfect empress. So the news that Grand Saint Saraf is an evil witch must continue to spread. Therefore, I hope the Ella Temple won’t spread false rumors that Lorencia is a witch.”
“We need Grand Saint Saraf to win the war. Have you forgotten that monster’s prophecy?”
Pelena carefully took a step closer and looked up at Ruans.
“Do we need Grand Saint Saraf? I don’t think we need her.”
“Not needed?”
“Yes. In this world, Saraf has become a vicious witch. Whether it’s true or not, should we protect Grand Saint Saraf who is already embroiled in scandal? Rather, we should condemn Saraf at the Ella Temple, then exalt Lorencia as the Grand Saint and make her my empress.”
“Emperor Ruans von Isuter!”
At Pelena’s loud voice, Ruans closed his mouth.
When she called both Ruans’s surname and given name at the same time, it meant she was extremely angry.
“Leave this room immediately.”
She firmly ordered Ruans to leave. Pelena had never ordered Ruans to leave before. Even the maids cleaning the room hesitated.
“Are you ordering me, the Emperor, to leave?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“No, why?”
Ruans didn’t hide his bewilderment at being ordered to leave by Pelena for the first time.
“Leave. Your mother hates saying things twice the most, Your Majesty.”
Seeing Pelena’s reddened eyes, biting her lower lip and suppressing her anger, Ruans took a step back.
After Ruans left, Pelena said to the head maid.
“Right now… Go to the Duke of Greikan’s residence and bring my father.”
In Pelena’s eyes, sunk in anger, only a murderous intent rose like a haze.
[This is the timeline separator]Ruans headed to the conference room. When he arrived, Mahanri, the Marquis of Monbellionst, and Yoruna, the Knight Commander, were waiting.
“Everyone is waiting for Your Majesty.”
“Let’s go in.”
As the conference room door opened, the first thing visible was a large round table.
Ruans looked over the nobles bowing to him one by one, then sat in his seat.
The seat he sat in was a specially made marble throne.
As Ruans sat down, the nobles also began to take their seats.
“I will declare war on the Polroid Empire.”
The nobles, who didn’t know why they had been called, were startled by Ruans’s sudden declaration of war.
The faces of the nobles watching Ruans speak coldly began to harden.
“Your Majesty. Please tell us the reason for declaring war.”
“Who dares to ask me to explain my reasons?”
“I am Caman of the Caeloto County family.”
“Yes, Count Caman. Why are you asking me to explain the reason for declaring war now?”
Caman opened his mouth, looking at Ruans who asked back in a tone that seemed to be testing him.
“The people are confused.”
“What are they confused about?”
“It hasn’t even been a year since Prince Adrian’s death, and the deaths of Emperor Adolf and Empress Ines. If we suddenly start a war with the Polroid Empire in this situation, they will be greatly confused.”
“Are you trying to stop my declaration of war just because the people will be confused?”
Caman closed his mouth. If he told Ruans here that he was trying to stop the declaration of war, he could clearly see what would happen to him.
Most of the nobles who had been purged were those who opposed Ruans’s words.
But he couldn’t not tell the truth.
“I advise you to take time to prepare thoroughly before the war and declare it when the people’s confusion has subsided.”
At Caman’s words, the agitated Ruans slammed his fist on the round table.
“Should I wage war while watching the people’s reactions, Count Caman?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Who would stop me from declaring war against the Polroid Empire that killed my brother?”
Ruans frowned and shouted.
“Reports have come in that Earl Yuriya, who secretly poisoned me and killed my father, Emperor Adolf, and the respected Empress Ines, is working with the nobles of the Polroid Empire.”
Ruans, speaking with unbearable anger about the deaths of Adolf and Ines, continued, mentioning that all the people of Earl Yuriya’s family had fled.
“I cannot forgive them. War is necessary to stop their evil deeds of daring to kill the royal family of the Isuter Empire, and if we can take revenge through war, the people will cheer rather than be confused.”
“Your Majesty. Still, war should be carefully…”
As Caman tried to continue speaking, Ruans slammed the table again.
“Count Caman, do you still not understand what I’m saying? I’m talking about revenge!”
As Ruans was speaking loudly, the conference room door opened. It was the head chamberlain.
“What is it, opening the door without knocking? Head chamberlain.”
“A big, big thing has happened, Your Majesty.”
“A big thing?”
“It’s a big thing, but it seems like a miracle… No, it is a miracle, Your Majesty.”
“A miracle? Head chamberlain, what on earth are you talking about!”
And through the open conference room door, someone wearing a deeply pulled-down robe entered along with Duke Bahunt of Aktur.
“Head chamberlain. Is my being alive such a great miracle?”
At the voice of the person wearing the robe, Caman felt familiar.
“Could it be…”
“Have you already forgotten my voice? Count Caman, I’m disappointed.”
Caman’s eyes grew larger. His feeling of ‘could it be’ grew stronger. And when he was certain, Ruans jumped up from his seat and shouted.
“Duke Aktur. Surely you’re not committing treason?”
Ruans glared at Bahunt as he spoke.
“Treason? I am forever Your Majesty the Emperor’s loyal subject. However…”
As Duke Bahunt gestured with his chin, the conference room door opened wide and knights rushed in, surrounding the nobles.
“Emperor Ruans. You are simply not my emperor.”
“How dare you do this in front of His Majesty the Emperor!”
Daniel stood up to protect Ruans. And he called for the guards.
“The guards won’t come in, Duke Daniel. So stop calling for them.”
“Who are you!”
As the person wearing the deeply pulled-down robe took it off himself, everyone in the conference room froze in their seats.
“This can’t be. How are you…”
Daniel was shocked as soon as he saw the person who took off the robe.
“You look like a trembling puppy, Duke Daniel.”
“Father?”
“Yes, Ruans.”
The identity of the person who took off the robe was none other than Adolf. Ruans couldn’t believe it even as he saw Adolf.
“Is, is it really Emperor Adolf, Your Majesty?”
Caman asked, stuttering from shock. If it really was Adolf, it was a miracle as the head chamberlain said.
“Count Caman. It’s been a long time.”
“Duke Aktur. How did this happen?”
The nobles in the conference room were thrown into confusion as Adolf, whom they thought was dead, appeared.
“Why are you all so surprised? I’m disappointed that you’re all just shocked instead of welcoming me back home.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
